What you may have missed while sleeping: Mugabe is out

Over night, it was reported that the almost 30-year rule of 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, has finally ended at the hands of the military. However, it is imperative to look at the key events that led up to this. Mugabe and his party have been in power of Zimbabwe since 1987 and in the eyes of the international community, he is a dictator and a chronic human rights violator. Mugabe has been the leader of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Party (ZANU-PF) since its creation in 1987.

Reports from Zimbabwe are saying that this is a military coup that began because Mugabe accused the head of the military of treason. The armed forces took control of ZBC which is the state TV broadcast, the national residence, and the surrounding areas around the capital. Contrarily, the military themselves are saying that this is not a military coup but just a sort of “political realignment” and the president and his family are safe. So, what is really going on is still not completely clear.

Listen to more about this developing story here from this BBC interview with, Nick Mangwana, a ZANU-PF official in the U.K.